CPKC Final Spike Steam Tour | Upper Midwest Chase

The chase is on! Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816 is on an epic journey from Canada to the U.S. to Mexico – all to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the CPKC railroad! After the vintage locomotive steamed crossed the U.S. border, Trains.com staff members (Lucas Iverson, Bryson Sleppy, Sean Kirby, and others) were there to […]

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CPKC Final Spike Steam Tour | Canada into U.S.

Welcome to Canada! It’s April 26th, 2024, and Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816 is on its way to Mexico. The preserved vintage steam locomotive is on a public relations tour to celebrate the one year anniversary of the merger between the Canadian Pacific and the Kansas City Southern to create the CPKC railroad, operating a […]

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Five mind-blowing facts — Golden Spike Ceremony

On May 10, 1869, the first Transcontinental Railroad was completed during the Golden Spike Ceremony. Yes, every rail enthusiast and elementary school student has this date ingrained in their mind. The rail enthusiast probably remembers the date better than the elementary school student, but nonetheless, it is a significant date in U.S. history. However, for […]

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Trains LIVE — ‘Trains’ milestone

Two men seated at a table for an interview. Trains milestone.

Trains LIVE — Trains milestone — 12-27-2023 — For the 1,000th time the presses have rolled to produce another issue of Trains Magazine. As Carl Swanson, current Trains editor, noted: It is rare for a publication to reach the milestone of 1,000 issues. Trains is the second magazine in the Kalmbach family to do so […]

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Trains LIVE — Riding Amtrak

Two men in a TV interview. Trains LIVE — Riding Amtrak.

Trains LIVE — Riding Amtrak — 10-25-2023 — There are still places in this country that one can only see while riding a train. Today, taking an Amtrak train will deliver spectacular scenery and get you to your destination. The train trip again becomes part of the travel adventure. Additionally, Amtrak, while only a little […]

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Trains LIVE — Riding Amtrak

Two men in a TV interview. Trains LIVE — Riding Amtrak.

Trains LIVE — Riding Amtrak — 10-25-2023 — There are still places in this country that one can only see while riding a train. Today, taking an Amtrak train will deliver spectacular scenery and get you to your destination. The train trip again becomes part of the travel adventure. Additionally, Amtrak, while only a little […]

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Trains LIVE — The new golden spike

Three men during a Zoom interview. Trains LIVE — The new golden spike.

Trains LIVE — The new golden spike — 10-11-2023 — The Transcontinental Railroad did more than join East and West. Completion of the line from Omaha, Neb., to Sacramento, Calif., on May 10, 1869, condensed the United States. No longer did it take 6 months to travel from coast to coast; with the driving of […]

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New Golden Spike Monument en route to Utah

Golden spike monument in a park. Transcontinental Railroad Golden Spike.

SALT LAKE CITY — Today, at the Kentucky studio of sculptor Douwe Blumberg, a crane gently lifted a gold spike measuring 43.3 feet long and weighing just under 7,000 pounds, onto a decorated semitrailer. The spike, commissioned by Utah’s Golden Spike Foundation, is a new memorial commemorating the workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad. Starting […]

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How the ‘Golden Spike Centennial Limited’ came to be

End of blue passenger train with sign highlighting railroad spikes

The Golden Spike Centennial Limited was born, in promoter Ross Rowland Jr.’s mind, as a reaction to the Association of American Railroads’ not planning anything special to mark the 100th anniversary of the nation-uniting event on the new transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, in 1869. The apathy was perhaps typical of the Class I railroads […]

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